Sporting Fingal 2 - 1 Shelbourne

Sporting Fingal welcomed promotion and geographical rivals Shelbourne to Morton Stadium tonight, as both sides looked to keep pace with Dundalk at the top of the table in front of a record crowd of 1,267. After Damien Brennan opened the scoring for the visitors, and before Chris Deans was sent off for receiving a second yellow with four minutes to go, Robbie Doyle and Conan Byrne both scored to give Sporting Fingal their first ever victory over Shelbourne.

Shels’ opener came through an awful error by Fingal stopper Brendan Clarke. A hopeful long ball by Alan Murphy looped towards Clarke who fumbled the ball, under pressure from Darren Forsyth. Damien Brennan was the in the right place at the right time as the ball dropped at his feet and he passed it into the net. A free header from Brennan was tipped over the bar three minutes later as Fingal struggled to contain Shels’, with the visitors height a distinct advantage.

Sporting’s reply, just before the half hour mark, was a bit of magic though. In their first decent attack of the game, Chris Deans played a long ball into the corner where Peter Hynes first touch both cut out full back Alan Murphy, and opened up a route to goal. Hynes then pulled the ball back behind the Shels’ centre halves for the free Robbie Doyle to side-foot in, completing a beautifully flowing move.

Fingal took the lead five minutes before the break through Conan Byrne’s twenty yard strike. The ever involved Doyle played him in just outside Shels’ box and after beating one man, Byrne looked up and curled a fine shot into the corner, leaving Delaney with no chance.

Less than sixty seconds later and Fiachra McArdle should have made it three after a mix-up in the Shels’ ranks. Delaney spread his body well to block the point blank effort, however McArdle knew he had let a golden chance slip, leaving the score 2-1 at the break.

Shels’ had the first real chance of the second half. Damien Brennan excellently headed Alan Byrne’s free kick across goal, however Robbie Hedderman couldn’t connect properly with the ball, from one yard. From one yard in front of the goal.

Shels’ height was still causing problems and it seemed like their best chance would come from a set piece, however a James Chambers run presented them with their best chance of the game ten minutes after the break. Running a full thirty yards, past three Fingal challenges, Chambers played in Anto Flood however Clarke made a wonderful save down low to deny the striker.

Twelve minutes from time and Peter Hynes was gifted a great chance to win the game. He won a long ball, as Damien Brennan seemed to give up on the challenge and allow a free run at goal for the striker. However, from an angle, he could only strike the side netting.

Shels’ were offered a lifeline with four minutes remaining when Chris Deans was sent off for a rather soft second yellow. The defender had been booked midway through the first half however everyone was surprised when he was sent to the stands for a soft foul at the corner of the box with time casually running out. However Fingal held out to keep their promotion challenge on track, while Shelbourne’s patchy form continues.

Sporting Fingal: Brendan Clarke; Derek Tyrell, Barry Ferguson, Chris Deans, Brian Gannon; Conan Byrne (Dinny Corcoran 72), Colm James, Paul Caffrey, Fiachra McArdle; Peter Hynes (Philip Byrne 83), Robbie Doyle (Paul Byrne 87).
Subs not used: Steve Williams, Aidan Collins.

Shelbourne: Dean Delany; Alan Murphy, Alan Keely, Damien Brennan, Robbie Hedderman; James Chambers, Darren Forsyth, David McAllister, Mark Rutherford (James Keddy 68); Anto Flood (Andrei Georgescu 68), David Freeman.
Subs not used: Alan Byrne, Dean Lawrence, Gareth Whelan.

Referee: Rob Rogers.

Attendance: 1,267

Man of the Match: Both Peter Hynes and Conan Byrne can be extremely happy with their shifts tonight, but Fiachra McArdle was excellent in the second half when Sporting seemed penned back and fully deserves man of the match.